Award-winning CBBC trans series gets free UK re-release – here’s how to watch it

The creators of an award-winning TV show about a trans youngster are set to release the entire series for free, five years after it first aired in the UK.

The 2020 children’s drama series, First Day, which aired on ABC, Hulu and CBBC, is set to be released for free for UK on YouTube on Friday (4 July), creator Julie Kalceff confirmed last week.

The Australian series follows Hannah Bradford, a 12-year-old transgender girl, as she begins her first year of middle school while navigating challenges and trying to live as her authentic self.

The show was showered with praise, winning an International Children’s Emmy Award, a Rose d’Or and a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding children and family programming.

Despite this, the series hasn’t been available to watch in the UK since it aired on CBBC in 2020.

More five years later, the series’ creators have opted to release the entire show in the UK, without cost, in response to the growing levels of institutional discrimination against transgender people, particularly youngsters.

Series writer and director Julie Kalceff said she hoped the show would be a source of comfort to trans youngsters in the UK in the wake of continued attacks on the community.

“We wanted the series to accurately reflect the experiences of transgender children but we also wanted to tell a universal story about hope, friendship and overcoming adversity, a story that transgender and cisgender audiences all around the world could relate to,” Kalceff said.

Research has shown that transgender youngsters under the age of 18 are facing mental-health issues as a result of the UK government’s decision to restrict their rights, particularly through the ban on puberty blockers. They have reported feeling as though “life wasn’t worth living” since being denied treatment, while rates of anxiety and depression have increased.

Kalceff said that reinforcing the validity of trans youngsters’ identities through media representation was vital at a time when their rights were being “actively eroded”.

She went on to say: “Our hope is that First Day will provide comfort to those who may be navigating a similar journey to Hannah, as well as eliciting essential empathy – and sympathy – from the wider population.”

Series producer Kirsty Stark added that representation can help stamp out false or baseless assumptions about transgender people. “There is so much misinformation out there around what it means to be trans, and sadly a lot of this has gained traction due to a lack of essential stories being widely available to counter these narratives,” she said.

First Day will premiere on YouTube on Friday (4 July).

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